The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Automatic and semi-automatic rifles have become widely used in units of the military, police, and other security services. An example is the AR-15. In some situations, such as combat operations, the ability to rapidly reload the magazine of the rifle is critical. Therefore, the means by which bullets or cartridges are packaged, carried, and moved from packaging to the magazine is an important procedure. In past practice, ammunition manufacturers typically have packaged cartridges in a shipping carrier, such as a divided disposable plastic carrier, which fits inside a cardboard carton or other packaging. In the field, or in an ammunition depot that is controlled by the units of military, police or security services, the cartridges are removed from the manufacturers' packaging and transferred into a stripper clip. In action such as combat, as reloading of the rifle is required, personnel grasp an available stripper clip and load the rifle magazine using the stripper clip.
The stripper clip is a speed loader that holds several cartridges, typically 3 to 10 rounds, together in a single unit for easier and faster loading of the magazine. The stripper clip is used only for loading the magazine and is not necessary for the firearm to function. The term “stripper clip” is used because, after the bolt is opened and the stripper clip is placed in position, generally by placing it in a slot on either the receiver or bolt, the user presses on the cartridges from above, sliding them down and off the clip, thereby “stripping” them off the stripper clip and into the magazine.
Depending on the firearm, magazine and cartridge, stripper clips come in a variety of shapes, some quite complex, though most are either straight or crescent-shaped pieces of stamped metal, usually brass or steel. Some require adapters for effective use with particular magazines. After the magazine is loaded, the stripper clip can be set aside for reloading, but in field combat situations the clips are often simply discarded by dropping them or tossing them aside. In large-scale combat operations, the result is a large volume of metal waste. Moreover, metal stripper clips are not suitable for serving as packaging or shipping material for ammunition due to weight and bulk.